In a surprise flight, ZA002, the 2nd test 787-8 was flown to Davis Monthan Air Force Base where it will be turned over to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tuscon, Az.
The aircraft accumulated over 960 flight hours over 300 flights in support of flight testing and certification of the 787-8. After it had completed these tasks Boeing stored the aircraft in Palmdale, Ca. until the flight today to Arizona.
ZA002 first flew on Dec. 22, 2009, one week after the maiden flight of sistership ZA001. It had suffered an in flight fire on November 9, 2010 due to a piece of solder in a power distribution panel had caused a short circuit. The aircraft landed safely in Texas without any injuries but this fire and the subsequent investigation and required fixes set back the 787 deliveries by 6 months.
Check out Pima's Facebook page for details.
I hope we get an inside story of how well the plane responded to being engined, brought back to life after what, 3 years in Palmdale?, and flown to Pima. Saw a story that the plane will have engines, electronics and fluids removed before display and interior won't be accessible or viewable to public... guess that makes sense. Also a interesting study of how a composite airframe will age in the desert.
ReplyDeleteI would not be surprised to find out that ZA001 has already been donated to the Smithsonian - although the Udvar-Hazy hanger is already quite full and they have no outside exhibition space.
ReplyDeletecurious that the current production table changes show that a whole lot of planes have had their delivery dates changed from 4/30 to 5/31. Is this correct?
ReplyDeleteYes
ReplyDeleteA lot of flights from LAX to Victorville in the last month by LAN. Would this be wifi installations or something like that?
ReplyDeletehttp://flightaware.com/live/flight/LAN9901/history/20150401/1645Z/KLAX/KVCV
Nevertheless, the Boeing news is unlikely to go down well with several workshop store unions ahead of the upcoming union membership vote due on 22nd April, though none of them gave their comments on the matter despite being repeatedly approached for their views
ReplyDelete